Mail box



F'.' G. RYTHER MAIL BOX Filed Oct. 4. 1923 2 SheetsSheet 1 ,4 WMMEW F.GTRTHER MAIL BOX Filed 001;. 4, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet T k W 4 a w F a aPatented Aug. 12, 1924.

FRANK GEORGE RYTHER, 0F COPENHAGEN, NEWYOBK.

MAIL BOX.

App1ication fiIed October 4, 1923. Serial No. 666,486.

sirable to provide a box which is so con-' structed as to protect thecontents of the box from the weather and to enable the box to be readilyopened and closed, even when coated with ice or sleet.

The objects of this invention are to provide a box of this kind ofimproved construction which is so made as to protect various parts ofthe box as well as the contents of the box from the action of theweather by providing a' cover portion which is adapted to enclose thebody portion of the box and the operating mechanism; also to providemechanism of improved construction for raising and lowering the coverportion and for holding the same in open position to expose the bodyportion of the box; also to provide means for guiding the cover portionin its movement into and out of its closed position; also toimprove theconstruction of mail boxes of this kind in the other respectshereinafter specified.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a mail box embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof.

Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation thereof on line 3-3, Fig. 5, on'anenlarged scale.

Fig. 4 is a similar sectional elevation thereof showing the parts of thebox in different positions.

Fig. 5, is a central sectional elevation thereof on line 55, Fig. 3.

Briefly stated, the mail box embodying the invention which isshown inthe accompanying drawings includes a body or receptacle portion which isopen at its upper end and which is adapted tocontain the mail matter, acover portion which telescopes or fits loosely over the body. portionand covers either all or the greater part of the body portion, andactuating mechanism for lifting the cover portion so as to move the sameupwardly clear of the body portion and then swing the cover portionbackwardly' to expose the upper open end of the body portion, thelifting mechanism being arranged under the cover portion in such amanner as to protect the mechanism against the weather.

A represents the body portion of the box which, in the constructionshown, has its upper end open to receive the mail matter. This bodyportion may be of any desired shape and the bottom thereof is rigidlysecured to any suitable support, for example, in the constructionillustrated, a pair of feet or legs a of any suitable form are securedto the bottom of the box and are mounted upon a base or platform amounted on a post a Other means for mounting the body portion of the boxon a support may be employed if desired.

B represents the cover portion of the mail box, the lower part or skirtportion 7) of which corresponds substantially in shape with the outerwalls of the body portion A and is adapted to surround the side walls ofthe body portion. The upper part of the cover portion of the boxincludes a roof 77 secured to the sides of the cover portion of the box.Preferably the sides I) of the cover portion are provided with aninwardly extending flange which is adapted to rest on the upper edges ofthe body portion ofthe box when the cover portion. is in its closed oroperative position on the body portion. The front and rear walls of thelower or skirt part of the cover fit closely to the corresponding wallsof the box body portion A and the opposite side walls of the coverportion are preferably spaced a little farther from the end Walls ofthebody portion so as to provide room for the raising and loweringmechanism of the mail box. The lower part or skirt of the cover portionof the box preferably extends, as in-the construction shown, to thelower edges of the box body portion so as to entirely cover the bodyportion. Consequently, when the box is subjected to sleet or otherweather conditions which would form a coating of ice on the this coatingof ice 9r sleet will be formed entirely on the cover portion of the boxand will not touch the body portion, thus leaving the cover portion atall times free to move upwardly into its open position.

box,

In uncovering the body portion of the box, it isdesirable to first raisethe cover portion in a vertical direction and then tilt the samerearwardly. The mechanism for accomplishing this movement is preferablyconstructed as follows: C represents a hand lever which is arranged atone side of the mail box and by means of which the cover portion may beraised and lowered. The lower end ofthis lever is rigidly connected toone end of a shaft or rod 0 which is suitably'journ'alled'on a fixedpart of the box.

form bearings for the rod 0. shaft 0 extends slightly beyond pivotallyconnected to links E and 7 portion of the ,b

will cause the cover I position. In

In the construction shown, a pair of straps c is suitably secured to thebottom of the ody portion of the box and are bent to The rod or theopposite endsof the body portion of the box, and a pair of arms I) isrigidly secured to the shaft'adjacent to the opposite ends thereof.These arms extend into the space between the ends of the body portion ofthe box and the end walls of the cover portion, and when the coverportion of the box is in its closed position the arms D are arrangedadjacent to the lower portion of the box as shown in Fig. 3. The outerends of these arms are the other ends of the links E are pivotallyconnected to the end walls'of the cover portion of the box at a point inadvance or in front of the longitudinal center of the cover portion.

I cans are preferably provided for swinging the cover portion of the boxrearwardly into the inclined or tilted position shown in Fig. 4c, andfor holding the cover portion 1n this positionsothat the cover will bein be'moved back into its closed the construction shown for thispurpose, a pair of rigid arms F is provided which extend upwardly alongtherear wall of the cover portion and which are spaced readiness to at adistance therefrom and which have their upper f ward the box to formstops with which corends 7 extending inwardly toresponding stopprojections g on the cover when the cover reached the upper ment. .Whenthe further upward portionof the box has limit of its upright movestops9 engage the stops 7, movement of the links E portion to swing or tiltrearwardly, and'this rearward tilting of the cover portion lsalsoassisted by the arrangement ofthe pivotal. connection of the link E' andthe cover portionin advance of the central-transverse plane thereof.When the cover has been swung to the limit of its opening movement, the'upper faces of the stop projections f will support the cover portion ina position from which it can be readily swung into its closed position.The

' ri'gid arms F, in the construction shown,

are provided with lower :portions secured 'to "the body portion ofthebox. The proox are adaptedto engagejections g of the cover portion ofthe. box may be of any suitable construction, those shown includingstraps G secured to the rear wall of the cover portion of the box andhaving their lower ends bent outwardly to form the stop projections g.The straps Gr also serve the purpose of cooperating with the ends of thestops f to guide the cover portion during its vertical movement, toprevent wear on the cover portions of the The operation of the boxopening and closing mechanism is as follows: When the lever C is swungbackwardly through about a quarter turn from the position shown in Fig.2, the shaft 0 will be rotated through a corresponding angle, causingthe arms I) to be raised and to exert upward pressure on the links Ewhich consequently slide the cover portion of the box upwardly in asubstantially vertical direction, the movement of the cover portion ofthe box being guided by the front and rear sides of the body portionthereof and by the engagement of the stops with the straps G. When thecover portion of the box has been raised so as to almost clear the bodyportion, or in other words to a point at which the side walls of thebody portion of the box no longer acts as guides for the cover portion,the cover portion is held against swinging beyond the position shown inFig. 4 by engagement of the arms D with the lower rear edge of the coverportion of the box.

The front wall of the cover portion of the box may be provided with anindicating device or signal which may be exposed when the box containsmail matter. In the constructionshown for this purpose, a visible signalorpanel H is provided which may be of any suitable design and which maybe concealed by means of a door it hinged to the front wall of the coverportion and having a catch it cooperating with a fixed catch 72 on thecover portion of the box for holdingthe door in its closed position.When this door is open it indicates that the box contains mail matterwhich should be removed, and when the door is closed, it indicates thatthe box is empty.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a box, the combination of a box body portion, a cover portiontherefor having a depending skirt surrounding said box body portion,mechanism for moving 'said cover portion upwardly in a substantiallyvertical direction, and means engaging said cover portionafter apredetermined upward movement thereof to convert the upward movementimparted thereto by said mechanism into a tilting movement.

2. A mail box including a box body portion, a cover portion adapted tobe moved downwardly to enclose the greater part of said body portion,mechanism for raising loo said cover portion, said mechanism being arranged in the space between said body portion and said cover portion andbeing protected from the weather by said cover por tion, and a handleconnected with said mechanism for actuating the same, said handle beingarranged outside of said cover portion and movable relatively thereto.

3. In a mail box the combination of a box body portion, a cover portiontherefor having a depending skirt surrounding said box body portion,mechanism for moving said cover portion in a substantially verticaldirection, and a stop for engaging said cover portion for tilting thesame after a limited movement in a vertical direction.

4. In a mail box the combination of a box body portion, a cover portiontherefor having a depending skirt surrounding said box body portion,mechanism for moving said cover portion in a substantially verticaldirection, a stop member on said cover portion, and a fixed stop memberwith which said first-mentioned stop member is adapted to engage after alimited vertical movement of said cover portion, to cause said coverportion to be tilted. I,

5. In a mail box, the combination of a box body portion, a cover portionhaving a depending skirt which is adapted to surround said body portion,a rod journalled to said body portion, arms connected to said rod andextending into the spaces between the skirt of said cover portion andsaid box body portion and pivotally connected with said cover portionfor raising and lowering the same, and means for turning said rod toefiect the raising and lowering of said cover portion.

6. In a mail box, the combination of a box body portion, a cover portionhaving a depending skirt which is adapted to surround said body portion,a rod journalled on said body portion, arms connected to said rod, linkspivotally connecting said cover portion and said arms whereby theswinging of said arms will cause said cover portion to be raised, andmeans connected with said rod for turning the same.

7. In a mail box, the combination of a box body portion a cover portionhaving a depending skirt which is adapted to surround said body portion,a rod journalled to said body portion, arms connected to said rod andpivotally connected with said cover portion for raising and lowering thesame, means for turning said rod to effect the raising and lowering ofsaid coverportion, cooperating stops on said cover portion and said bodyportion which are adapted to engage after said cover portion has beenraised to a predetermined distance, for causing said cover portion to betilted.

8. In a mail box, the combination of a box body portion, a cover portionfor said body portion and having a depending skirt surrounding said bodyportion, means for elevating said cover portion, a fixed stop memberarranged on the rear of said cover portion, and a stop portion on saidcover portion adapted to engage said fixed stop member to cause saidcover portion to be tilted rearwardly, said fixed stop portion alsoserving to support said cover portion when in its open position.

9. In a mail box, the combination of a box body portion, a cover portionhaving side Walls surrounding the side walls of said box body portion, arod journalled on said body portion, arms extending outwardly therefromand pivotally connected with said cover portion, and cooperating stopswhich limit the upward movement of the rear end of said cover portionand cause said cover portion to tilt after a predetermined verticalmovement thereof, said arms engaging with said rear end of said coverportion to limit the swinging movement of said arms for limiting theopening movement of said cover portion.

10. In a mail box, the combination of a box body portion, a coverportion having a depending skirt surrounding said body portion when saidcover is in its closed position, mechanism for moving said cover portionupwardly to clear said box body portion, said mechanism being covered bysaid cover portion when in its closed position, and a stop for tiltingsaid cover portion after a limited upward movement thereof.

FRANK GEORGE RYTHER.

